@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to
@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to avatar

Nonya_Bidniss

@[email protected]

Retired deep state IC/civil servant. Scientific & technical intelligence re pandemic threats, chem/bio weapons, bioscience, emerging tech; personal staff of senior GOs; tech writer, speech writer, senior editor; various analytic & research labs. Today I hike, cook, read & watch #scifi. Degrees in biology & strategic intelligence. Currently in N. Alabama :( #veteran #atheist #antifascist #natsec #fedi22 🌻
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HeavenlyPossum, to random
@HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social avatar

Israeli forces killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza on Friday.

The hostages were apparently trying to surrender while displaying a white flag. The IDF shot and killed two immediately, then hunted down and killed the third while he begged for his life in Hebrew.

Now, we could imagine that this was a singular and unique tragedy. Maybe these soldiers were particularly murderous.

But it seems more likely that this incident offers a window into a more general approach by the IDF to killing men in Gaza, including men who are surrendering, and that we only found out about this instance because the victims in this case happened to be Israeli hostages, prompting a public investigation.

https://news.sky.com/story/three-israeli-hostages-killed-by-idf-were-holding-white-flag-says-military-official-13031567

Nonya_Bidniss,
@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to avatar

@HeavenlyPossum "the brigade commander will punish the ones who did that once they stop fighting,”

translate: never

kimlockhartga, to bookstodon
@kimlockhartga@beige.party avatar

@bookstodon Just out of curiosity, how close are you to your reading goal for the year? I need to read 12 more books to meet the goal I set for myself. 📚📚📚📚

Not everyone works the same way, of course. We've discussed before that reading goals are counterproductive for many. Having a goal really helps me, but it doesn't work for everyone. Just like reading for pleasure and reading to write a review are very different processes.

Nonya_Bidniss,
@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to avatar

@kimlockhartga I've never had a reading goal. I've got one book and one audiobook going at all times. I probably go through around 75-100 per year. When I was young I was often reading up to 4 books concurrently. My brain was good at overclocking back then. 😄 @bookstodon

RollingStone, to random
@RollingStone@mstdn.social avatar

Judge Arthur Engoron and his law clerk have been inundated with death threats and antisemitic attacks after Donald Trump targeted the judge and his assistant on social media. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/judge-engoron-staff-death-threats-antisemitic-attacks-1234894395/

Nonya_Bidniss,
@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to avatar

@RollingStone Trump is a terrorist leader who's treated like...well, a rich white man

kimlockhartga, to bookstodon
@kimlockhartga@beige.party avatar

You know the drill, @bookstodon Whatcha reading this weekend? ❤📚👀

I finished WE ARE THE CRISIS, the excellent second installment of Cadwell Turnbull's Convergence Saga. NO GODS, NO MONSTERS was the first book.

I'm currently reading Ed Park's bizarro SAME BED DIFFERENT DREAMS.

Next up: THE FUTURE, by Naomi Alderman, author of THE POWER.

Nonya_Bidniss,
@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to avatar

@kimlockhartga still trudging through audiobook Determined by Robert Sapolsky. Not very accessible I'm afraid, even though I'm already on board the "no free will" train. @bookstodon

bojacobs, to sts
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

This is very bad news for radioactive waste management at

"Hanford’s pre-treated waste might not meet Vit Plant criteria"

Much of the worst radioactive waste at Hanford is the "liquid" waste in the Tank Farms. The plan was to vitrify them (enclose them in glass). Now, looks like the Vit Plant may not be up to the task. Billions more wasted after the first Vit Plant was scuttled for safety concerns.

All of the tanks in the Tank Farm are leaking. Workers are hospitalized annually for inhaling toxic fumes working at the site. They may remain with no viable plan to process the waste into a form that is manageable.

@sts @histodons

https://www.exchangemonitor.com/hanfords-pre-treated-waste-might-not-meet-vit-plant-criteria/

Nonya_Bidniss,
@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to avatar

@TomSwirly Also the nuclear waste at Hanford came from decades of plutonium production for nuclear weapons. Different kind of nuclear energy... @Socratease @bojacobs @sts @histodons

flexghost, to random
@flexghost@mastodon.social avatar

Meet YouTuber Tiba al-Ali

She left her native Iraq for Turkey when she was 17

In her videos, she would talk about her independence, her boyfriend, her love of make-up

She went back to Iraq to see her father

He strangled her in her sleeep

He then turned himself in feeling it was his right, by Islamic law, to murder his daughter—he disapproved of how she lived her life

He got six months for his crimes

This normal in many theocracies. Why? Honor killings usually go unpunished

Nonya_Bidniss,
@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to avatar

@flexghost There are lots of Republicans who want a theocracy here and we shouldn't fool ourselves about what that'll mean, even if it takes a while to get there.

jerry, to random
@jerry@infosec.exchange avatar

There’s an attorney on TikTok that has been playing the recorded phone call between Trump and the Georgia SoS (the infamous “just find me 11780 votes” call) - I’ve listened to it twice now and I have to say that I recognize the approach: it’s the same thing I see seasons sales people do. It’s the same thing I’ve seen startup CEOs do. It’s a pressure tactic that works pretty well in other, less coup-y, contexts. I am quite impressed that the Georgia team held firm.

The trial is going to be fascinating to watch.

Nonya_Bidniss,
@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to avatar

@jerry Trump went beyond the pale though by trying to threaten that Raffensberger might end up being charged for something if he didn't cooperate. That threat coming from a criminal POTUS has got to be frightening.

Nonya_Bidniss,
@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to avatar

@jerry It'll play well in front of a jury.

kimlockhartga, to bookstodon
@kimlockhartga@beige.party avatar

Now that it's September, what great books did you read in August that you'd really recommend?

My list of August read rec's:

The Never-ending end of the World, Ann Christy

The Best We Could Do (GN) Thi Bui

Two Tribes (GN) Emily Bowen Cohen

Every Drop is a Man's Nightmare, Megan Kamalei Kakimoto (short stories)

Our Voice of Fire, Brandi Morin

Blue Hour, Tiffany Clarke Harrison

Strange Planet (GN) Nathan W. Pyle

@bookstodon

Nonya_Bidniss,
@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to avatar

@kimlockhartga @bookstodon My currently in-progress books are both recommended:
e-book: The Terraformers (Annalee Newitz, @annaleen)
audiobook: The Ministry for the Future (Kim Stanley Robinson)

jerry, to random
@jerry@infosec.exchange avatar

Apparently the fan under the dashboard of my car is “known to cause interior fires that result in serious injury”.

Looks like I’ll be putting an extra fire extinguisher in my car for my upcoming trip.

Nonya_Bidniss,
@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to avatar

@jerry 😲 Seems like there should be a recall?!

jerry, to random
@jerry@infosec.exchange avatar

I found this video which appears to be talking about me after a presentation I gave

video/mp4

Nonya_Bidniss,
@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to avatar

@jerry 😂

jerry, to random
@jerry@infosec.exchange avatar

Finished my last dose of paxlovid this morning. Looking forward to my taste buds returning to normal. I am finally feeling human again, but I get tired really fast and my mind is still very cloudy. Thanks for the concern and well wishes.

Nonya_Bidniss,
@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to avatar

@jerry Glad you got Paxlovid!

Gargron, to random
@Gargron@mastodon.social avatar

Going to share a few more up-close shots of the new Mastodon merch! I'm happy that we got to incorporate some Mastodon history in the designs. Mind you there's only going to be 250 of each at launch!

An enamel pin attached to a white t-shirt. The pin features an elephant riding a paper airplane.
A purple mug featuring an elephant on a green landscape. The elephant is waving.
A black t-shirt featuring an elephant riding a paper airplane among different colored planets. The Mastodon logo is visible.

Nonya_Bidniss,
@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to avatar

@Gargron Love it. This will sell out in hours, if not seconds. I assume you'll have subsequent batches if so.

ksaj, to random
@ksaj@infosec.exchange avatar

"You'll never find a rainbow if you're looking down." -- Charlie Chaplin

"Unless you're 30,000 feet in the air." -- This lucky airborne photographer

Nonya_Bidniss,
@Nonya_Bidniss@mas.to avatar

@jerry @ksaj False. This is debunked already, sorry to say. If it seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is. https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/03/fact-check-colorful-image-is-not-a-real-photo-of-a-complete-rainbow-captured-by-a-pilot-at-30000-feet.html

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